Optoma HD33 Projector - Image Quality 3

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Art Feierman

Optoma HD33 - Overall Color & Picture Quality

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The HD33 looks and cooks like a DLP projector, and while a bit rough around the edges seems to always put up a clean, enjoyable image on the screen. Darker scenes have that richness that I associate with DLP projectors.

Generally scenes look very natural. As I said elsewhere, the HD33 is rather forgiving. Perhaps not the closer to flawless picture that many enthusiasts demand, but a fine picture for those who just want to enjoy. If only the black level performance was a notch better, this projector would really be a wonder for the price.

For those folks who are rainbow sensitive, I found the HD33 to be good for a low cost DLP projector. I have seen rainbows at times, so this isn't a match for some of the faster wheels. My understanding is that it is a 3X color wheel, but that's rated, I believe, at 120hz. If that should translate into 6X on standard 2D content, though, I'd be surprised, because it's rare I spot rainbows on one of those rare 6X color wheel projectors that are out there.

Optoma HD33 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports

The HD33 is nice and bright in 2D, and, guess what!?! The HD33 does a reasonable job in 3D on sports as well, as long as your screen size isn't too large. I watched some X Games in 3D, as well as golf, tennis, and college football. Nice.

Just above, is how the back of my room looked for the HDTV photo shoot. The blinds are partially open, but my dark surfaces and the distance from the screen absorb a lot of the inbound light before it reaches the screen.

I even got to use PUREMotion, Optoma's CFI when running 3D. I believe it smooths out the action, and even the 3D a bit. Very impressive!

Click Image to Enlarge

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Most of the time I viewed sports in either Cinema or User, but if I wanted an overall brighter seeming image, due to a different gamma, Photo mode would seem to be the best one against ambient light. Bright mode tends to wash out the mid bright areas somewhat with some content, and is fine on other content. Still, I couldn't bare to use Bright mode consistently when watching sports. Since all the modes are relatively similar in brightness, though, that's hardly a concern. All kinds of 3D content look good on the HD33. That's not to say there isn't some cross talk, but the 3D picture is most watchable, brighter than the more expensive projectors we've seen to date. I viewed, some travel content such as tours of China and San Francisco, nuclear submarines from Smithsonian HD (I think), 3D concerts by Guitar Center, (including Social Distortion), and lots of sports in general.

Optoma HD33 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports

The HD33 does well for sports and general HDTV viewing. Not only does it do a respectable job in 2D, but, I'd rather watch 3D on my screen, on the HD33, than the $12,000 JVC that came though here eariler this year. The difference - this HD33 is almost twice as bright, and it's lumens are needed.

Also of note, sports on Blu-ray 3D, look even better than what I'm getting from DirecTV. I've got FIFA soccer, and Ultimate Wave3D Tahiti, with some awesome surfing. One more time. A fine family room style projector, in both 2D and 3D. Just remember, you don't get any glasses with the projector. Those RF glasses will set you back $99 a pair at the time of first shipments.